Solo will miss China match after death of father.

Hope Solo, the No. 1 goalkeeper for the United States women, will miss tonight's match with China following the death of her father.-- U.S. Soccer Federation web site photo --

CLEVELAND (Saturday, June 16, 2007) -- Starting goalkeeper Hope Solo will not be with the United States women for their match tonight at 7 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Solo's father died Thursday night and she returned home to the Seattle area. The U.S. team will wear black armbands during the match and there will be a moment of silence before the game.

Solo has started 32 of 40 matches under coach Greg Ryan, who has a 33-0-7 (.913) record since taking the helm in March 2005. The U.S women's unbeaten streak now stands at 41 matches (34-0-7, .915).

"We know the expectations are high. We know that everyone is shooting at us, so let's just embrace that and go out and give it everything we've got," Ryan said. We haven't worried about the pressure, we don't worry about losing, we just go out and play to win and, so far, it's worked pretty well."

Ryan named 18 of the 24 players he has in camp for today's game roster.

Tonight's match is the first of six matches the U.S. will play before the Women's World Cup September 30 in China. The Americans have been training in Cleveland since Tuesday, preparing for their first match at this relatively new stadium. The U.S. men defeated Venezuela 2-0 here in May 2006.

The U.S. women and China have already met twice this year with the Americans taking both matches. The first victory came January 30 when the Americans' 2-0 triumph gave them the Four Nations Tournament championship in China. On March 7, The U.S prevailed 2-1 in its opening outing of the Algarve Cup, an event the Americans also captured. The U.S. is 6-2-2 (.700) all-time against China on home soil.

The U.S. is the top team in the rankings of world governing body FIFA. "If you look over the long history, we have dominated in the world," Ryan said. "The landscape has definitely changed since 1991 when the USA won their first world championship in China. The teams we are playing against now are so much better. They are putting so many more resources into the game and the players are more athletic. There are five, six, seven teams that can win" the Women's World Cup."

U.S. women's sendoff series schedule (all times Eastern):

June 16 - China at Cleveland Browns Stadium, 7 p.m.
June 23 - Brazil at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. 5 p.m., ESPN2
July 14 - Norway at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., 6 p.m., ESPN2
July 28 - Japan at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif., 10 p.m.
August 12 - New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago, 1 p.m., ESPN2
August 25 - Finland at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., 9:30 p.m., ESPN2